Rendering method

ABSTRACT

A method of rendering a grid based user interface includes selecting a gaming object with an illumination value to be updated. The gaming objects located directly adjacent to the selected gaming object each having an associated illumination value. The updated illumination value takes into account the illumination values of the directly adjacent gaming objects. The game object is rendered using the updated illumination value.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/180,915, filedJun. 13, 2016, the entire contents of which being fully incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF EMBODIMENTS

Some embodiments may relate to a method and in particular but notexclusively to a method of rendering an image on a user interface ordisplay for a computer game and computer device therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many technical challenges and technical considerations facingthe designer of computer devices having a user interface in the contextof available computer devices and resources, which may be limited. Forexample, the complexity of a rendering process may make such a computerdevice run slowly and/or consume too much power.

In the context of a game for example, a technical challenge can involveenabling a game to be fun, accessible and compelling even when there arelimited graphics processing resources available, such as when a game isbeing played on a mobile device such as a smartphone, tablet or othersmall or portable computer.

Casual computer games having a number of game objects are known. It maybe desirable to allow one or more of the game objects to act as a lightsource. However, the rendering an image where a large number of gameobjects act as a light source can be complex, for example where the gameis being played on a mobile device.

This patent specification describes not only various ideas andfunctions, but also their creative expression. A portion of thedisclosure of this patent document therefore contains material to whicha claim for copyright is made and notice is hereby given: CopyrightKing.com Limited 2016 (pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 401). A claim to copyrightprotection is made to all screen shots, icons, look and feel and allother protectable expression associated with the games illustrated anddescribed in this patent specification.

The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction byanyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears inthe Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but reserves allother copyright rights whatsoever. No express or implied license underany copyright whatsoever is therefore granted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect, there is provided computer implemented method,said method comprising the following steps performed by one or moreprocessors: selecting an object in an image to be updated, the object tobe updated comprising illumination information, said image comprising aplurality of objects; determining for the selected object updatedillumination information, the determining being dependent on respectiveillumination information for a subset of one or more, but not all, otherobjects to be displayed in the image; and rendering on a display theselected object with the determined updated illumination information.

According to a second aspect, there is provided computer implementedmethod, said method comprising the following steps: selecting an objectin an image to be updated, the object to be updated comprisingillumination information, said image comprising a plurality of objects;determining for the selected object updated illumination information,the determining being dependent on respective illumination informationfor a subset of one or more, but not all, other objects to be displayedin the image; and rendering on a display the selected object with thedetermined updated illumination information.

One or more of the steps may be performed in hardware. For example, ahardware renderer may perform the rendering. Alternatively oradditionally, one or more steps may be performed by a processor.

It should be appreciated any one of the following features maybe used incombination with the first aspect or the second aspect.

The selected object and at least some of the other objects in the imagemay be arranged in a grid like arrangement.

The subset may comprise only directly adjacent objects to the selectedobject.

The method may comprise determining which of the other objects aredirectly adjacent to the selected object.

The method may comprise storing in a memory, the updated illuminationinformation for the selected object.

The method may comprise reading from a memory illumination informationof the directly adjacent objects.

The method may comprise storing in a memory illumination information ofa plurality of the objects of the image as a texture.

The illumination information of a respective object may be stored as apixel in the texture, and a location of the pixel in the texture may bedependent on a location of the respective object in the image.

Illumination information of a plurality of objects may be stored in asingle texture.

Illumination information of a plurality of objects may be stored in asingle pixel, each object being stored in a color channel.

The method may comprise storing illumination information of a respectiveobject in a bit field, wherein each bit in the bit field corresponds toa respective object.

The position of a corresponding bit in the bit field may correspond to apredetermined location of the respective object in the image.

The method may comprise storing illumination information of a respectiveobject in a bit field, wherein each object is associated with aplurality of bits in the bit field.

The method may comprise using at least one pre-rendered texture storedin a memory to display one or more objects respectively associated withat least one pre-rendered texture.

The method may comprise displaying a respective pre-rendered texture ifillumination information of a respective object corresponds toillumination information associated with the pre-rendered texture.

According to another aspect, there is provided a computer implementeddevice comprising a display and at least one processor configured to:select an object in a graphical image to be updated, the object to beupdated comprising illumination information, said graphical imagecomprising a plurality of objects; determine for the selected objectupdated illumination information, the determining being dependent onrespective illumination information for a subset of one or more, but notall, other objects to be displayed in the image; and render on thedisplay the selected object with the determined updated illuminationinformation.

The selected object and at least some of the other objects in the imagemay be arranged in a grid like arrangement.

The subset may comprise only directly adjacent objects to the selectedobject.

The at least one processor may be configured to determine which of theother objects are directly adjacent to the selected object.

The device may comprise a memory configured to store the updatedillumination information for the selected object.

The at least one processor may be configured to read from a memoryillumination information of the directly adjacent objects.

The at least one processor may be configured to store in a memoryillumination information of a plurality of the objects of the image as atexture.

The illumination information of a respective object may be stored as apixel in the texture, and a location of the pixel in the texture may bedependent on a location of the respective object in the image.

Illumination information of a plurality of objects may be stored in asingle texture.

Illumination information of a plurality of objects may be stored in asingle pixel, each object being stored in a color channel.

The at least one processor may be configured to store illuminationinformation of a respective object in a bit field, wherein each bit inthe bit field corresponds to a respective object.

The position of a corresponding bit in the bit field may correspond to apredetermined location of the respective object in the image.

The at least one processor may be configured to store illuminationinformation of a respective object in a bit field, wherein each objectis associated with a plurality of bits in the bit field.

The at least one processor may be configured to use at least onepre-rendered texture stored in a memory to cause one or more objectsrespectively associated with at least one pre-rendered texture to bedisplayed on said display.

The at least one processor may be configured to cause a respectivepre-rendered texture to be displayed on said display if illuminationinformation of a respective object corresponds to illuminationinformation associated with the pre-rendered texture.

According to another aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computerreadable storage device for storing instructions that, when executed byat least one processor, causes said at least one processor to: select anobject in an image to be updated, the object to be updated comprisingillumination information, said image comprising a plurality of objects;determine for the selected object updated illumination information, thedetermining being dependent on respective illumination information for asubset of one or more, but not all, other objects to be displayed in theimage; and render on a display the selected object with the determinedupdated illumination information.

A computer program comprising program code means adapted to perform themethod(s) may also be provided. The computer program may be storedand/or otherwise embodied by means of a carrier medium.

A further aspect provides computer program products for implementing theafore-defined methods.

In the above, many different embodiments have been described. It shouldbe appreciated that further embodiments may be provided by thecombination of any two or more of the embodiments described above.

Various other aspects and further embodiments are also described in thefollowing detailed description and in the attached claims

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To understand some embodiments, reference will now be made by way ofexample only to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a user device in which some embodimentsmay be provided;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a system in which some embodiments maybe provided;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a displayed game board upon which aredisposed game objects;

FIG. 4 shows a user selection of three neighboring first game objects onthe game board of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows the game board immediately after the selection of the groupof three neighboring first game objects, each having at least one samecharacteristic;

FIG. 6 shows a portion of a game board of a game which uses similarprinciples to the game described in relation to FIGS. 3 to 5 but insteadthe game objects are visually represented as stars;

FIG. 7 schematically shows the functional blocks in a user device, whichmay enable game play;

FIG. 8 shows a part of a game board according to an embodiment, the gamemay be, for example, as previously described in relation to FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 shows schematically the determination of the illumination of acenter game object from the game objects directly adjacent to the centerobject;

FIG. 10 shows an example of a game board and its associated storagetexture;

FIG. 11 shows schematically the storage, in a texture, of theco-ordinates of a game object on the game board;

FIG. 12 shows schematically, the storing of game board data, in which agame object is represented by a bit field;

FIG. 13 shows schematically, another example of the storing of gameboard data;

FIG. 14 shows a flow chart of a method according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 15 shows a flow chart of another method according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The terms user and player are used interchangeably throughout thisdocument and no specific meaning is intended using one or the otherunless the context suggests otherwise. A person skilled in the art willrealize that the different approaches to implementing the game are notexhaustive, what is described herein are certain preferred embodiments.It is possible to implement the invention in a number of variationswithout departing from its spirit or scope.

Although some embodiments are described with respect to of the displayof game objects in a game, it will be understood that the invention isnot limited as such. Some embodiments may be used for the display of anynon-game object. Thus, embodiments are not limited to the field ofcomputer implemented games.

A schematic view of a user device 100 according to an embodiment isshown in FIG. 1. All of the blocks shown are implemented by suitablecircuitry. The blocks may be implemented in hardware and/or software.The user device may be for example, a mobile device. The user device mayhave a control part 110. The control part 110 has one or more processors115 and one or more memories 120. The control part 110 is also shown ashaving a graphics controller 125 and a sound controller 130. It shouldbe appreciated that either or both of the graphics controller 125 andsound controller 130 may be provided by the one or more processors 115.

The graphics controller 125 is configured to provide a video output 135.The sound controller 130 is configured to provide an audio output 140.The controller 110 has an interface 145. The interface 145 may enablethe device to communicate with a network such as the Internet or othercommunication infrastructure.

The video output 135 is provided to a display 155. The audio output 140is provided to an audio device 160 such as a speaker and/or earphone(s).

The device 100 has an input device 165. The input device 165 can takeany suitable format and can be one or more of a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, joystick or game controller. It should be appreciated that thedisplay 155 may in some embodiments also provide the input device 165 byway of an integrated touch screen for example.

The blocks of the controller 110 are configured to communicate with eachother by an interconnect such as a bus or any other suitableinterconnect and/or by point-to-point communication.

It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, the controller 110may be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, at least in part.

The user device 100 is shown by way of example only. In alternativeembodiments, one or more of the parts may be omitted. Alternatively oradditionally, some embodiments may comprise one or more other parts.Alternatively or additionally, one or more parts may be combined.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a system 200 in some embodiments. The system200 comprises a server 220, which may store databases of game player'sdetails, profiles, statistics, etc. In practice, one or more databasesmay be provided. Where more than one server is provided, the database(s)may be provided in one database or across two or more servers. Theserver may also have a games data function. This may comprise one ormore units of memory to store the computer game program and userbehaviour data, and a processor to run the games program and process theuser behaviour data.

The server 220 may communicate via for instance the internet 210 to oneor more user devices 100, shown in the Figure by way of example as userdevices 100 a, 100 b and 100 c, and may further provide connections to asocial network 230 such as Facebook™.

It should be appreciated that embodiments may be deployed in differentsystem architectures. For example, the computer game may be implementedas a computer game that is stored in the memory 120 of the user device100 and is run on the processor 115 of the user device 100. However, theserver 220 may handle some elements of the game in some embodiments. Byway of example only, a Java game applet may be provided to the userdevice 100 and the locally running Java applet will generate, forexample, the graphics, sounds, and user interaction for the game play onthe user device 100. Some data may be fed back to the server 220 toallow interaction with other players. The data, which is fed back, mayalso allow scoring and/or cross platform synchronization.

In some embodiments, the game may be implemented as a computer programthat is stored in a memory of the system, for example, the server 220,and which runs on a processor of the game server. Data streams orupdates are supplied to the user device 100 to allow the user device 100to render and display graphics and sounds in a browser of the userdevice 100. Such an approach is sometimes referred to as a web servicesapproach. It should be appreciated, however, that such an approach doesnot necessarily require the use of the Internet.

An embodiment will now be described. FIG. 3 illustrates an exampledisplayed game area or game board 300. The game has a game board 300upon which are disposed game objects, which may be comprised of firstgame objects 310 a, 310 b, 310 c, 310 d and second game objects 320 a.The game objects may be disposed on the game board in grid. That is tosay game objects may be arranged in a table with rows and columns on thegame board. First game objects 310 a, 310 b, 310 c may have varyingcharacteristics. The characteristics shared by the first and second gameobjects may be one or more of color, shape, and/or different types ofobjects. In this embodiment, the first game objects are differentlycolored and shaped lanterns as shown in FIG. 3. Information of the gameobjects and/or information of characteristics associated with the gameobjects may be stored in a memory of a device upon which the game isbeing played, and/or in a game server communicating with the device.There may also be provided a player selection indicator (not shown inthe Figure) which may be a representation of a pointer or hand in someembodiments, and may or may not be displayed to a user in someembodiments utilizing intuitive touchscreen or gesture recognitionhardware. Of importance is that a selection mechanism is available forselecting a plurality of game objects, for example “clicking” and/or“switching”, or for example a “touch and/or move” or slide mechanism forrepositioning displayed first game objects 310 a, 310 b, 310 c. Theexact mechanism may be according to the computing or user deviceresources provided as described in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The game board 300 of FIG. 3 also shows, in this embodiment, an areacomprising game information in the form of time elapsed 330, currentscore 340 and the number of remaining moves 350 available to the user.In addition, basic user device controls 370 may be displayed as shown,and special or valuable objects 360 may be counted and displayed,depending on the rules of the computer implemented game.

First game objects 310 a, 310 b, 310 c, 310 d may be removed from thegame board 300 by selecting neighboring game objects 310 b that share atleast one same characteristic (e.g. color, and/or type of objectgraphically represented) of the one or more characteristics. New firstgame objects may then be generated and displayed in the positions on thegame board 300 vacated by those game objects 310 b that have beenremoved or eliminated by the selections. The game objects 310 a, 310 creplacing those eliminated or removed game objects, may be displayed onthe game board 300 and may subsequently cascade position by position ina vertical direction with respect to the game board to occupy thosepositions made available by the elimination of the first or second gameobjects.

FIG. 4 illustrates such a mechanic in more detail. FIG. 4 shows a userselection of three neighboring first game objects 310 b sharing at leastone same characteristic to remove or eliminate the three game objects310 b from the game board 300. The shared one or more characteristics ofthe three game objects 310 b may in some embodiments be the color of thefirst game objects 310 b selected from for example a palette of four ormore color characteristics. In an embodiment, the four or more colorsare for example red, green, blue and yellow.

The game board 300 illustrates the touch or select input track 400 inputby the user to highlight and select the group of three first gameobjects 310 b.

FIG. 5 shows the game board 300 of FIG. 3 immediately after theselection of the group of three neighboring first game objects 310 bhaving at least one same characteristic. The successful selection ofmatching neighboring first game objects 310 b results in the removal, insome embodiments of the selected first game objects 310 b, and alsocauses a state change in a neighboring second game object 320 a to forexample a different display state in accordance with a stored thirdcharacteristic. In an embodiment, the third characteristic may mandatedifferent display colors of the second game object for each of the first320 a and second state 320 b. FIG. 5 shows the neighboring second gameobject 420 b transformed into its second state.

In some embodiments, the second game objects are first transformed froma first state to a second state when activated, and subsequently onlyremoved to for example reveal a first game object 310 a when both firstand second state have been activated. Hence, a second game object with atwo-step or three-step characteristic for elimination is provided,thereby bringing an extra challenge and elements of strategic gameplayinto the consideration of the user.

From the foregoing, it will therefore be understood that a user caninteract with a game board of a game to achieve one or more gameobjectives. This may be by way of a touch input interacting with a touchscreen of a user device. In order for the user device and/or game todetermine where a user has touched the touch screen, and consequentlyfor a determination to be made as to which game object a user hasselected or is trying to select, a touch detection or collisiondetection algorithm is provided.

By way of example, FIG. 6 shows a portion of a game board 600 which usessimilar principles to the game described in relation to FIGS. 3 to 5 butinstead the game objects are visually represented as stars. The gameboard comprises first game object 620 a to 620 g, and second gameobjects 610 a to 610 i. In this example, the first game objects arestars displayed without hatching, and the second game objects are starswith hatching. It will of course be understood that this is by way ofexample only, and that the first and second objects could differ in anyway e.g. color, shape, and/or different types of objects. It may beunderstood that the game board may have only a first type of game objecton the game board 600. There may also be third, fourth and indeed anynumber of different types of object on the game board 600.

Each game object is contained within a selection (or collision) area. Inthe example of FIG. 6 the selection areas comprise circles, for examplecircle 612 which bounds object 610 a. It will be understood that the useof circles is by way of example only, and that in other embodiments theselection areas may comprise squares, rectangles, or indeed any othershaped polygon. The size of one or more of the collision areas may alsobe configurable. This may be configured for example by a game designer.If a user touches a point on the game board within a given selectionarea, then it is considered that a user has selected a game object thatis contained within or associated with that selection area. This is thecase even if the user has selected a point that it outside the objectitself, but within the selection area. For example, if a user selects apoint 612 a within circle 612, then it will be determined that the userhas selected game object 610 a, even though the contact point is outsideof that object.

A user can select a series of objects in-turn in order to attempt tomeet a game objective. For example, a user may attempt to link a seriesof objects of the same type and/or sharing one or more characteristics.An example user input path is shown by the dashed line 616 in FIG. 6.Initially a user touches object 610 a at point 614, and then the user'scontact with the game board 600 follows a path as shown by dashed line616.

It will be understood that the dashed lines (e.g. circles) in FIG. 6 arefor the purposes of explanation only, and that in practice theboundaries defining the selection areas are not visible to a user.

Reference is made to FIG. 7, which schematically shows the functionalblocks of an embodiment, which may enable game play. A user input block700 is shown. This captures the user input and feeds the input to a gameengine 702. In the context of the game of some embodiments, this userinput may be which game objects are selected or linked by a user. Thisuser input can be via any suitable user interface, such as discussedearlier.

The game engine 702 will process the information provided by the userinput. The game engine 702 (for example a game model) will determine ifa valid combination has been made.

Each game object has object data associated therewith. The object data704 may be stored in any suitable memory location. In some embodiments,the object data may be considered to be part of the game engine and inother embodiments may be considered to be outside the game engine. Theobject data may provide information as to the properties of a gameobject. These properties may include, for example, one or moreattributes such as, color, shape, size, or special functions. Specialfunctions may include, for example, features that aid a user in:completing the game; unlocking desirable game content; or obtaining morepoints. The data may include the position data, that is, informationrepresenting the position of the game object in the displayed image.Furthermore, information may be provided as to whether or not the objectis an illuminable object. For example, a specific illumination value,such as a 0 value, may indicate that the object cannot be illuminated.The information may alternatively or additionally indicate if the objectis a light source.

In some embodiments, the game engine will check if the game objectsatisfies the rule or rules for a valid match. The rule or rules definewhether a match condition has been satisfied. The match condition willbe dependent on the game. In some embodiments, a match condition will besatisfied if the game objects are arranged to provide a sequence of atleast three adjacent game objects sharing at least one samecharacteristic. In some embodiments, the game objects of the sequenceare removed.

Thus, the game engine will be in control of the matching mechanism. Thegame engine will have access to data for each game object including itsposition and the at least one characteristic associated with the gameobject and will be able to determine if a match condition has been met.If a match condition is met, the game objects in the match may beremoved.

It should be appreciated that in other embodiments, the game may use anytype of match mechanic such as switching, sliding or linking. The gameobjects may be any suitable game object.

A physics engine 708 is provided which is configured to control themovement of moving game objects on the display. This may be used in someembodiments to simulate the effect of gravity.

The physics engine 708 may be part of the game engine 702.

A view function 706 uses of the object data to provide the displayedimage with which the user is able to view and/or interact.

Some embodiments will now be described in the context of acomputer-implemented game. Some embodiments may be used when displayinggame objects. A game object may comprise any element of the game, such agame element to be matched with other game elements, a character, aprop, scenery. Some games may have more than one different type of gameobjects.

Some embodiments may be used a computer implemented game, where one ormore game objects glow or are illuminated in response to theillumination effects of one or more other game objects located nearby.

Although some embodiments are described with respect to the illuminationstate of game objects in a game, other embodiments may be used where thestate of a game object has an influence on the visual appearance of oneor more other game objects. The illumination state of a game object mayrepresent an illumination value of the object.

The illumination of a game object may be effected through themanipulation of one or more aspects of its appearance, for example:color, brightness, shadow, glow, or shading. This may comprise alteringone or more of the aforementioned properties alternatively oradditionally in only a portion of the game object or in a portion oftime to generate effects, for example glimmering, flashing, flickering,sparkling, and/or twinkling.

The complexity and performance of mobile processing units in portablehardware has developed substantially in recent years. Modern graphicscontrollers in mobile devices may offer a large degree of control overthe aesthetics of an object. The appearance of a game object may becalculated dynamically. This dynamic calculation may be used to achievehigher graphical fidelity than can be achieved by showing a static imageon a display.

For example, it is possible to achieve dynamically lit game objects in2D (two-dimensional)-based games using techniques such as per-pixellighting and normal mapping. Per-pixel lighting is a technique that,given an illumination value and an image, renders an illuminated imageby calculating the relevant color values for each pixel of the image.

Normal mapping, otherwise known as bump mapping, may be used to describeone or more additional dimensions. A normal map for an image withdimensions X and Y, may describe the Z direction.

However, this enhanced graphical fidelity may come at the expense ofincreased computational complexity. The fastest mobile processing unitsmay be able to handle the increased computing requirements, but suchrequirements may result in a poor experience for users with lesspowerful devices or where the available resources are limited.

In order to take advantage of the increasing performance offered inmobile devices, software is used to aid in the development of computergames, this software is known as a game engine. One feature of a gameengine is to enable the rendering of 3D (three-dimensional) objects bybreaking them down into smaller 2D polygons. Polygons may be forexample, any 2D shape, such as a four-sided face, also known as a quad.The resultant smaller polygons, or quads, may have a texture applied viaa texture mapping process. A texture may be 2D image, pattern or color.Texture mapping is a method of adding detail, for example, an image,color, or pattern, to the surface of a shape or polygon. That is to say,texture mapping may be considered analogous to applying patterned paperto a plain white box, wherein the white box is the shape and thepatterned paper is the texture. Once a texture has been applied, smallerpolygons may be reconstructed back into a single object and then asnapshot from a single angle may be displayed or saved. This snapshotmay be known as a camera view. A camera view, such as an orthographiccamera makes the engine behave in a similar manner to a 2D engine, alongwith the associated computational complexity benefits, whilst displayingan image with a 3D appearance.

Textures can be rendered onto polygons, or quads, via a shader pipeline.A shader pipeline is used to create a 2D representation of a 3D shape orscene. A shader pipeline receives instructions from a shader. A shaderis computer program that is executed to calculate the appropriate colorto be displayed for a given game object. A shader may calculate theexact color to be displayed at a given position of a game object, forexample, on a per-pixel basis (pixel or fragment shader) or per-polygonbasis (vertex shader). The color of a polygon or pixel may be dependenton one or more of: the applied texture; user interaction; shadingeffects; lighting effects; fog effects; and shadow effects. Theperformance of a shader may be defined by the time it takes to calculatecolor values for a scene or game object. The performance of the shadermay be affected by one or more factors, for example, the number of timestextures are read into the shader, the number and complexity of effectsthat are applied to the textures and code branching. Code branching, inthis example, may refer to the number of different outcomes (branches)of conditional statements (e.g. if, else, and for each) the shader mustevaluate to determine the color of a pixel or polygon.

Modern graphics controllers in mobile devices may provide a large degreeof control over the aesthetics of an object. The color of the pixel thatis determined by the fragment shader can be calculated dynamically. Thisdynamic calculation may be used to achieve higher graphical fidelitythan just drawing textures on a display. For example, it is possible toachieve dynamic lighting situations in 2D-based games using techniquessuch as per-pixel lighting and/or normal mapping. Calculating lightinginformation for each pixel may be taxing. Each light calculationincreases the computational complexity and thus increases the demand onthe graphics-processing unit.

A typical 2D game object has no inherent information as to how lightaffects it, as a 2D texture does not have any information about itsthree dimensional shape. For the light calculation algorithm, the objectappears flat. This issue may be addressed by attaching a normal-map tothe shader of a game object. For each pixel of color stored in the colortexture, there is a corresponding pixel in an additional texture,storing the surface normal, which provides 3D information about the formof the object. This additional information may allow realistic 3Dlighting effects to be applied to the 2D object.

However, with large or high-resolution user interfaces, calculatingrealistic lighting effects can become very demanding for mobileprocessing units. Realistic lighting effect calculations are especiallydemanding when a game object can both illuminate other gaming objectsand receive illumination information from surrounding game objects. Forexample, given a game board with 63 game objects arranged in a 7×9 grid,if all 63 game objects may be illuminated, it would result in theillumination state of 63 game objects needing to be calculated in eachframe for each pixel, based upon 62 surrounding game objects.Furthermore, calculating the illumination effect of 63 game objects ineach frame for each pixel may be necessary if the current illuminationstate of a pixel contributes to its new value. The computationalcomplexity of the game per game object would increase as the number ofilluminated game objects increased, which may be detrimental to theperformance of the game. The performance of the game may refer to theframe rate, response rate or audio-visual synchronization. However,other measures of performance may alternatively or additionally beimpacted.

Illumination effects are calculated in the fragment shader, for eachpixel calculated in the previous example, the illumination informationof 63 game objects is passed to the shader. All of the possible lightson the board are included for each pixel of the game object rendered.Even if some of the lights to be rendered are ignored, performance maystill be impaired if the processor cannot anticipate, in advance, whichgame objects will or will not be included in the calculation.

A game board 800 according to an embodiment is shown in FIG. 8. The gamemay be for example as previously described in relation to FIG. 6. Thegame board 800 may comprise any number of game objects, for example morethan 2, more than 5, more than 10, more than 26 or more than 100. Thegame board 800 of FIG. 8 comprises 9 game objects 802, 804, 806, 808,810, 812, 814, 816, 818, which are presented in a 3×3 grid. In order toenhance gameplay any game object may act as a source of illumination. Anilluminated game object 806, 810, 812 may be represented by using ashading effect 820, 822, 824 at the edges of the illuminated gameobject.

FIG. 9 shows schematically the determination of the illumination thecenter game object 802 of the 9 game objects 802, 804, 806, 808, 810,812, 814, 816, 818 of a game board where there are more than 9 gameobjects. The computational complexity of calculating the illumination ofthe given game object 802 is reduced by only considering thecontribution, to the illumination effect, of the eight illuminable gameobjects directly adjacent 804, 806, 808, 810, 812, 814, 816, 818, to thegame object to be stored 802.

It may be understood that for a larger game board, illuminationinformation may be encoded for the entire game board by systematicallystoring information relating to the illumination state of the directlyadjacent game objects, for each game object.

A game object directly adjacent to the game object to be stored 802,more specifically refers to any game object that has a shared face,edge, or corner with the object to be stored. It may be apparent thatdirectly adjacent includes game objects that are: diagonally adjacent;804, 808, 812, and 816; horizontally adjacent, 818, and 810; andvertically adjacent 806, and 814.

It may be understood that a game object at the edge of the game board,has fewer directly adjacent game objects from which to consider acontribution to the illumination effect. For example, the illuminablegame objects contributing to the illumination effect of game object 808may be objects 806, 802, and 810. By way of further example, theilluminable game objects contributing to the illumination effect of gameobject 818 may be objects 804, 806, 802, 814, and 816. However,different rules may be used in different embodiments for determiningwhich game objects are considered directly adjacent.

Other embodiments may use different rules to select the subset of gameobjects which are to be used to determine the illumination of aparticular game object. In some embodiments, it is possible that one ormore of the subset of game objects is not directly adjacent.

In some embodiments, the degree of illumination provided by an objectmay be taken into account when selecting a subset of objects. It shouldbe appreciated that the subset of objects will not contain all theobjects. In the case of relatively large game boards with a relativelylarge number of game objects, the subset may be significantly smallerthan the total number of game objects.

In some embodiments, it may be desirable or perhaps necessary tocalculate or determine the illumination effects in real time.

Circumventing a distance calculation by utilizing only a subset of gameobjects and for example, the game objects directly adjacent to the gameobject being considered may result in a reduction of computationalcomplexity. In this example all of the gaming objects contributing tothe calculation show a shading effect 820, 822, 824, 926, 928, 930, 932,934. Arrows exemplify the contribution of the illuminated game objectsto the given game object for which the calculation is being performed.

Considering only the game objects that are located directly adjacent tothe game object, may allow illumination effects to be renderedrelatively simply. Thus, a real time calculation may be achievable evenon comparably slow graphics processing units. The game objects directlyadjacent to the current game object are known. As such, it is possiblein some embodiments to provide an element of pre-calculation toalleviate the real time processing demand.

If a game object comprised, for example, 20×30 pixels, a fragment shaderwould be invoked 600 times for that game object, each time with a set ofparameters. The parameters may comprise a texture, an interpolatedposition and a set of texture coordinates indicating an area to be readfrom that texture

In some embodiments, the illumination state of the game objects may beencoded into a texture comprising a plurality of pixels. Theillumination state of the game objects may be encoded into a texture ofthe same number of pixels as there are game objects, or illuminable gameobjects, on the game board. This may allow an efficiency in thetransferring of the illumination state of the game objects from thevertex shader into the fragment shader to be achieved.

An example of a game board 1000 and its associated storage texture 1002is schematically shown in FIG. 10. In this example, the illuminationstate of a single game object may be stored in a single pixel of thetexture. The associated storage texture is a texture in which theillumination value of one or more game objects is stored.

The illumination information may be encoded into a texture bysystematically iterating through the illuminable objects and writing rawbits into a pixel corresponding to the illumination state of the gameobject on the game board. To decode the information stored in thetexture, each pixel is read in the fragment shader. In some embodiments,mathematical operations such as modulo, division or bit-shifting areused in order to unpack the illumination state data.

Alternatively, the illumination state of a single game object may berepresented by a plurality bits in a single pixel. The total number ofbits that may be stored in each pixel of the texture is defined by thebit depth of the texture. The bit depth of every pixel in the texturemay be the same. The bit depth of the texture may be 1 bit, 2 or morebits, 8 or more bits, 32 or more bits, or 64 or more bits.

Alternatively, each pixel of the texture may allow the storage of aplurality of bits of information, enabling the illumination state of aplurality of game objects to be stored in a single pixel. For example, atexture typically comprises of RGB pixels each having three separatecolor channels: red, green, and blue. In one modification, instead ofstoring color information, these pixels may instead be used for thestorage of the illumination value of a respective game object in whatshould be a color channel. That is to say that the pixel may store theillumination value of a first game object in what should be a redchannel, the illumination value of a second game object in the whatshould be a green channel, and the illumination value of a third gameobject in what should be a blue channel. Although this embodiment isdescribed with respect to storing the illumination values of a pluralityof game objects in an RGB pixel, it will be understood that theembodiment is not limited as such. The pixel may comprise a plurality ofchannels to represent any color space. The color space may be, forexample: cyan, magenta, yellow, key (CMYK); red, green, blue (RGB); hue,saturation, lightness (HSL); or luminance, blue-difference chroma,red-difference chroma (YUV).

FIG. 11 shows a storage texture 1102 that may be used to store theco-ordinates and the illumination state of each game object on the gameboard 1100. It is clear from FIG. 11 that the number of rows and thenumber of columns of the game board 1100, match the number of rows andthe number of columns on the grid of the associated storage texture1102. That is to say the resolution of the storage texture correspondsto the game objects on the game board. For example, to store theillumination effects of twelve game objects 1104 arranged in a gameboard 1100 comprising game objects 1104 arranged in a 3×4 grid, theillumination state of each game object 1104 may be stored in thecorresponding pixel 1106 of a twelve pixel texture 1102 with pixelsarranged in a 3×4 grid. For example, the illumination state of a gameobject 1104 in row 2, column 2 of the game board would be stored in thecorresponding pixel of the texture, pixel 1106 which is located in row2, column 2, as shown in FIG. 11. This storage method may enable thecoordinates of some pixel read requests to be anticipated. Data to beread into a shader from the texture, such as coordinate data or anillumination value, can be anticipated as the shader knows which pixelsare directly adjacent to the pixel to be updated and hence, the relevantdata may be pre-fetched into the shader to reduce the real time demandon the mobile device.

The information stored in each pixel of the texture may berepresentative of the surrounding illuminable game objects. By way ofexample, FIG. 11 shows with directional arrows 1108 that the valuestored in the pixel 1106 in the location 2, 2 may be a combination ofthe illumination values of game objects from surrounding game objects.In this example, the information stored in the pixel 1106 is acombination of the illuminable objects directly adjacent to the gameobject to be stored. That is to say, that the value stored in pixel 2,2of the texture may be comprised of a combination of the values stored inthe locations: 1,1; 1,2; 1,3; 2,3; 3,3; 3,2; 3,1; and 2,1. Thecombination of values may be achieved using simple addition.Alternatively, the combination of values may represent any mathematicaloperation or combination of mathematical operations, such as, addition,subtraction, multiplication, or division.

FIG. 12 shows an alternative method of storing game board data for apart of a game board. A game object 1200 may be represented by a bitfield 1202. For example, each bit 1220 of the bit field 1202 mayrepresent a single game object 1204. In FIG. 12, storing game object1200 would require an 8-bit field as there are 8 game objects directlyadjacent to game object 1200. The bits may be stored in a predeterminedorder, wherein the position of the bit 1220 in the bit field 1202corresponds directly to the location of a game object 1204, 1206, 1208,1210, 1212, 1214, 1216, 1218 on the game board, relative to the gameobject being stored 1200. For example, the first bit 1220 of the bitfield may always store the illumination value of a first game object1208. More specifically, the bit field 1202 representing game object1200 may store the illumination state of each game object directlyadjacent to game object 1200 in the following order, from the first bit1220: bottom right 1208, bottom left 1212, top right 1204, top left1216, right 1206, left 1214, bottom 1210, and top 1218. This order is byway of example only and different orders may be used in differentembodiments.

The bit field 1202 may be any length. The length of the bit field maycorrespond with the number of game objects directly adjacent to the gameobjects to be stored. The bit field may be at least 8 bits long. An8-bit long field allows binary on/off illumination information to bestored for each of the game objects directly adjacent 1204, 1206, 1208,1210, 1212, 1214, 1216, 1218 to the game object to be stored 1200. Abinary 1 may indicate that a game object is illuminated. A binary 0 mayindicate that a game object is not illuminated. Additional data may beused in conjunction with this bit field, for example, intensity or colorinformation. Alternatively or additionally, any additional data requiredmay be hard coded into the shader.

FIG. 13 shows a bit field of 32 bits, such that 4 bits correspond toeach game object. Using multiple bits per game object enables multipleillumination states to be stored per game object. A bit field of 32 ormore bits allows at least 4 bits to be used per game object. 4 bits pergame object allows 16 states to be stored. The stored states maycomprise 16 illumination states. Alternatively, the stored states maycomprise a number of illumination states and additional states, such ascolor states. The game objects may have any level of illumination. Forexample, game objects 1300, 1302,604, and 1306 are all shown to havedifferent illumination states with differing bit values 1308, 1310,1312, and 1314. Alternatively, a bit field of 16 or more bits may beprovided, with 2 bits available for each of the game objects directlyadjacent 1204, 1206, 1208, 1210, 1212, 1214, 1216, 1218 to the gameobject to be stored 1200. A 16 or more bit field allows a plurality ofillumination levels to be stored. It is apparent that a bit field of 32or more bits may be provided in other embodiments.

A flow chart of a method according to an embodiment is shown in FIG. 14.

At step S1402, the game object to be updated is selected. The gameobject may be selected based upon: a computer algorithm, a set of gamerules, and/or in response to a user input. In some embodiments, eachgame object of the game board is selected. For example, each game objectmay be selected in turn.

The game objects directly adjacent to the selected game object areidentified in step S1404. Identification of directly adjacent gameobjects may be achieved by storing the information in specific locationsof a bit field or texture. In other embodiments, different techniquesmay be used to determine the adjacent game objects.

Once the directly adjacent game objects have been identified, theillumination values of the directly adjacent game objects are determinedin step S1406 by decoding the texture or bit stream. In otherembodiments, different techniques may be used for obtaining ordetermining the illumination value.

A new illumination value is calculated or otherwise determined for theselected game object in step S1408, which is based upon the illuminationvalues of game objects directly adjacent to the selected game object.The determination may be a simple culmination of illumination values inthe directly adjacent game objects or, it may be based on a moresophisticated mathematical equation. A more sophisticated mathematicalequation may, for example, attribute a larger impact to game objectslocated horizontally or vertically adjacent to the selected game objectand a smaller impact to a game object located diagonally adjacent.

Once the new illumination value has been calculated or otherwisedetermined, it is stored in memory, in step S1410. The value may be, forexample, stored in a bit stream or as a texture.

Finally, in step S1412, the game object is rendered with the newlycalculated illumination value.

In some embodiments, if there is a failure to render the game objects inreal time at a desired frame rate or in response to another condition ortrigger, pre-calculated game objects may be rendered in a layer over thereal time objects, to increase the frame rate.

A flow chart of another method according to an embodiment is shown inFIG. 15. This embodiment may be have application for relatively slowgraphics processing units but may alternatively or additionally be used.

Steps S1502, S1504, S1506, S1508, and S1510 respectively correspond tosteps S1402, S1404, S1406, S1408, and S1410 of FIG. 14.

Once the new illumination value has been calculated or otherwisedetermined for the game object, the value is compared, in step S1512,with a set of known values. Each known value has an associatedpre-rendered game object. If the value is known, the appropriatepre-rendered game object is displayed in step S1514. If the value is notknown, the game object is rendered with the newly calculatedillumination value.

It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, the rendering may beperformed by at least one processor on which a computer program isrunning or executing. In some embodiments, a hardware renderer may beprovided to perform the rendering.

Various methods and devices have been described. It should beappreciated that these methods may be implemented in apparatus ordevices comprising any suitable circuitry. Some embodiments may beimplemented by at least one memory and at least one processor. Thememory is provided by memory circuitry and the processor is provided byprocessor circuitry.

Some embodiments may be provided by a computer program running on the atleast one processor. The computer program may comprise computerimplemented instructions which are stored in the at least one memory andwhich may be run on the at least one processor. A computer programproduct may be provided which comprises computer program productcomprising code embodied on a computer-readable medium which isconfigured to be executed on a processor of the computer or user device.In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable storage devicemay be provided to store program code instructions that, when executedby at least one processor causes any of the above described methods tobe performed.

1. A computer implemented method, said method comprising the following steps performed by one or more processors: selecting an object in an image to be updated, the object to be updated comprising illumination information, said image comprising a plurality of objects, each object being made up of a plurality of pixels in the displayed image; determining for the selected object updated illumination information, the determining being dependent on respective illumination information for a subset of one or more, but not all, other objects to be displayed in the image; and rendering on a display the selected object with the determined updated illumination information.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the selected object and at least some of the other objects in the image are arranged in a grid like arrangement.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the subset comprises only directly adjacent objects to the selected object.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the method comprises determining which of the other objects are directly adjacent to the selected object.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: storing in a memory, the updated illumination information for the selected object.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 3, comprising reading from a memory illumination information of the directly adjacent objects.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising storing in a memory illumination information of a plurality of the objects of the image as a texture.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the illumination information of a respective object is stored as a pixel in the texture, and a location of the pixel in the texture is dependent on a location of the respective object in the image.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein illumination information of a plurality of objects is stored in a single texture.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein illumination information of a plurality of objects is stored in a single pixel, each object being stored in a color channel.
 11. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising storing illumination information of a respective object in a bit field, wherein each bit in the bit field corresponds to a respective object.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the position of a corresponding bit in the bit field corresponds to a predetermined location of the respective object in the image.
 13. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising storing illumination information of a respective object in a bit field, wherein each object is associated with a plurality of bits in the bit field.
 14. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising using at least one pre-rendered texture stored in a memory to display one or more objects respectively associated with at least one pre-rendered texture.
 15. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising displaying a respective pre-rendered texture if illumination information of a respective object corresponds to illumination information associated with the pre-rendered texture.
 16. A computer implemented device comprising a display and at least one processor configured to: select an object in a graphical image to be updated, the object to be updated comprising illumination information, said graphical image comprising a plurality of objects, each object being made up of a plurality of pixels in the displayed image; determine for the selected object updated illumination information, the determining being dependent on respective illumination information for a subset of one or more, but not all, other objects to be displayed in the image; and render on the display the selected object with the determined updated illumination information.
 17. A device according to claim 16, wherein the subset comprises only directly adjacent objects to the selected object.
 18. A device according to claim 16, comprising a memory configured to store illumination information of a plurality of the objects of the image as a texture.
 19. A non-transitory computer readable storage device for storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, causes said at least one processor to: select an object in an image to be updated, the object to be updated comprising illumination information, said image comprising a plurality of objects, each object being made up of a plurality of pixels in the displayed image; determine for the selected object updated illumination information, the determining being dependent on respective illumination information for a subset of one or more, but not all, other objects to be displayed in the image; and render on a display the selected object with the determined updated illumination information. 